Lawyer: Inmate Forced Cell Fight

July 21, 1999|By KEVIN KRAUSE and JOHN KENNEDY Staff Writers and Staff Writer David Nitkin contributed to this report.

The Death Row inmate was not coming out without a fight.

When chemical sprays and an electrified shield didn't work, a team of prison guards stormed into Frank Valdez's cell and dragged him out, an attorney for the guards said Tuesday.

A furious exchange of punches and kicks followed, landing a bruised Valdez in the Florida State Prison infirmary, said Bill Johnson, who is representing nine corrections officers suspended with pay.

Valdez, convicted of killing a prison guard in 1987, stopped breathing and died at a hospital in Starke hours after the altercation on Saturday that has resulted in a criminal investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Every rib in Valdez's body was broken, an FDLE investigator said, and his corpse bore the imprint of three boot marks.

The investigator, who is familiar with the unreleased autopsy report, said that Valdez had cuts and bruises inside his mouth and that his testicles were badly swollen.

Johnson said Valdez lost consciousness and stopped breathing at the Florida State Prison in Starke after he was cleared to return to his cell following his visit to the infirmary.

Guards assigned to check on him every 15 minutes watched Valdez repeatedly leap from his cell bars to the ground, he said. When finally he didn't get up, Valdez was taken to the hospital.

"The evidence will show that a lot of his injuries were self-inflicted" and occurred after Valdez left the infirmary, said Johnson, who added that he had not seen the autopsy report. Johnson could not be reached Tuesday night to comment on the information from the FDLE investigator.

The investigator said the officers are considered possible murder suspects.

One of the nine officers, whose names the DOC made public late Tuesday, is Sgt. J.P. Griffis.

Carolyn Martin, a sister of the slain guard, Fred Griffis, said Tuesday night that her brother had several cousins working at Florida State Prison. DOC Commissioner Michael Moore said he would not "confirm or deny" any relationship between the men, and FDLE agents are looking into a connection.

Valdez, formerly of Hialeah, was sentenced to die in 1990 for murdering Griffis, a Glades Correctional Institution officer and decorated Vietnam veteran, while trying to help a former jailhouse buddy escape from a transport van in West Palm Beach.

Although it was never proven in court, prosecutors think Valdez pumped three bullets into Griffis' head when the officer threw the van keys into some bushes.

"We always knew that [Valdez] would face the death penalty," Martin said. "He's attacked guards. He's attacked inmates. He was a very violent person."

Valdez had a history of violent outbursts and threats during his trial and court dates, and later when he was on Death Row. He had numerous privileges taken away for fights with other inmates and guards.

Johnson said that guards previously had confiscated homemade knives from Valdez's cell. He said Valdez used a knife last year to hold two correctional officers at bay, insisting they free him so he could attack a fellow inmate.

He wore a stun belt at every court hearing and often cursed the judges, said Assistant Attorney Celia Terenzio, who handled his appeal for the state.

"There was always some commotion or disruption with Frank," Terenzio said. "There were more security precautions taken with him than anyone else."

In April, he gave up on his appeals, she said.

Because of the threats and attacks, Valdez had been housed in the prison's X-Wing, a solitary confinement unit that houses the most disruptive convicts.

It was there that Valdez threatened to kill a corrections sergeant, Johnson said, precipitating the chain of events that led to Valdez's death.

Valdez had to be taken from his cell to sign a disciplinary report that would result in the loss of privileges such as a radio or books, but he refused to stick his hands through the bars to be handcuffed, Johnson said.

Johnson said Valdez remained defiant even after the guards fired two rounds of chemical agents: pepper spray "grenade" and a product similar to Mace.

"The next step is to physically pull him out of the cell," Johnson said. "There was a hell of a fight with him in the cell."

The guards entered Valdez's cell behind a special electrified shield, Johnson said, subduing him physically after a lengthy fight during which Valdez kicked one officer in the groin and pounded another with the pepper spray canister that was thrown in his cell.

Later, when officers found Valdez lying on the floor with no pulse, they performed CPR until an ambulance arrived 40 minutes later, Johnson said.

Johnson said the use of force was necessary to subdue a violent man who was plotting to injure himself so he could try to escape while on the way to a hospital.

"Do the correctional officers like this guy? No, of course not," Johnson said. "But if they wanted to see Valdez dead, all they had to do was wait."